Hey.
I don't remember ever taking painkillers for SH. I remember, after I'd had a skin graft, my Mum asking me to take some because I was obviously in pain (I was limping), but even then I couldn't bring myself to. Partially because I didn't think I deserved to, but also partly because I found the pain comforting.
I would encourage others to do so though. Like you, ht, I guess it's a "one rule for me, one rule for everyone else" thing. Other people are nice, don't deserve pain etc.
A sensible thing my old CPN did when I was refusing pain meds was to remind me that being in physical pain can have a negative impact on mental health. Being in discomfort can make you feel 100x worse so getting the pain under control may well have a positive effect emotionally. I can now see that that's very sensible, even if I couldn't at the time.
I think you've done a really positive thing by taking pain killers.